Chapter 4
A massive structure encountered near Jupiter's orbit.
The Goodbye Earth was being drawn toward the structure, as if pulled by a force.
Kait was being forced to make a decision.
"What will you do, Master Kait?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, whether we continue toward that structure or escape."
If they were retrieved by the structure as is, there was no guarantee that what awaited them would be friendly. It wasn't even certain if they could share values with beings not from Earth.
On the other hand, escaping didn't mean survival. This was a one-way trip to death from the start. Emotion's suggestion of escape could be interpreted as confirming whether he wanted euthanasia here.
That said, Kait had already made up his mind.
"I'll go check it out."
"......Are you sure?"
"If I'm going to die anyway, I figured I'd try everything I can. Also, could you add to the official record that I was the first Earthling to make contact with an extraterrestrial intelligence?"
"Of course."
As the ship moved toward the structure, it gradually decelerated. Kait thought Emotion was slowing the ship, when suddenly, it made a whirring sound.
"Master Kait. The ship's control has been seized. It seems we wouldn't have been able to choose escape either way. I apologize."
"It can't be helped. I guess this was our destination all along."
He didn't know where this structure had come from, but compared to Kait and the other Earthlings who had finally reached Jupiter's orbit, the technological disparity was obvious.
The encounter could not be stopped.
In that case, the only thing to do was enjoy it as much as possible.
He headed to the locker and took out a life support suit.
"Now then, what kind of creature will I be meeting?"
"That's why I keep telling you, you've watched too many classic movies."
Emotion's exasperated retort still lacked its usual sharpness.
***
Drawn in, the Goodbye Earth was naturally welcomed into the interior of the massive structure. Apparently, the structure was a giant spaceship.
Emotion had already severed the link with the Goodbye Earth, and someone inside the structure was now controlling the ship.
Then, suddenly, Emotion dropped. A heavy pressure hit Kait's body as well. It must have been gravity, but the weight felt strangely nostalgic. Still, it wasn't as harsh as he'd heard. Maybe it was thanks to his daily exercise, or perhaps the gravity here wasn't as strong as Earth's.
Emotion made a whirring sound. Kait lifted her body and connected it to the gravity-control unit installed on the wall of the main room.
"Thank you, Master Kait."
"You're welcome. Looks like there's gravity here."
The gravity unit activated, and Emotion floated gently into the air.
As always, the ship was moving automatically. Entering the gravity zone likely meant they were close to their destination.
"Master Kait doesn't seem very anxious. Vitals are normal."
"Well, at this point, curiosity wins out. Doesn't seem like they're going to kill us without a word."
"And your basis for that?"
"If they were going to, they'd have done it before we got here."
"You think so?"
"Maybe they'll preserve me as a sample of Earthlings?"
Though he said it, he didn't really believe it was likely.
For a civilization capable of building such a massive structure, the technological and resource gap was obvious. There would be no reason or need to go out of their way to invite Kait in.
Maybe they were the ones who destroyed Earth's civilization, but if so, he'd like to ask why. Purely out of intellectual curiosity.
Perhaps exasperated by Kait's optimism, Emotion made a silent whirring sound.
It was a machine intelligence with surprisingly rich expressive capability.
***
The ship came to a stop.
Without much hesitation, Kait opened the door at the exit. Since he was already wearing the life support suit, he figured it would last for a while. One should never underestimate the curiosity and initiative of an Earthling who had let go of attachment to life.
Emotion was analyzing the external air composition, but told him, "Please don't take off your suit," so the environment probably wasn't suitable for human survival.
He disembarked from the Goodbye Earth and stepped onto the pale blue floor. The ceiling, walls, and floor were all different colors—perhaps that was intentional.
When he turned around, he saw the Goodbye Earth. It was the first time he'd seen its exterior, and it looked quite patched together. The fact it had held together this far made his spine shiver a little.
"Hello, extraterrestrial intelligences."
For now, he turned on the external mic and spoke.
After a moment of silence, a voice came from somewhere.
'Greetings, Earthling.'
It was surprisingly fluent in his native language.
He wasn't too surprised. Kait dismissed several of the hypotheses he had about why they were here.
At the very least, it was clear they had observed Earth's civilization enough to respond to his greeting.
'We have prepared an atmosphere suitable for Earthling survival. We will open the passage, please come through.'
"Thank you."
Without a sound, part of the wall opened. It didn't look like a door, but who knew how it worked.
There was no reason to resist, so he walked through the opened passage. Emotion followed a little behind.
The ceiling glowed white, and the walls emitted a faint green light. He found it strange that the corridor had no seams as he proceeded.
"Emotion. Any abnormalities?"
"None in particular. No change in air composition either."
"Got it."
He continued walking down the slightly right-curving corridor.
Mechanical sounds occasionally came from beyond the walls. After walking for who knows how long, he finally saw a wall ahead.
When he stopped, there was a hissing sound behind him. Turning around, he saw the way behind had been sealed.
"Emotion?"
"Our position coordinates have shifted slightly. It's not that the door closed—our location has moved a bit."
"Hmm."
He didn't feel the floor move. So this was the extent of their technology.
Then, Emotion made a whirring sound.
"The air composition in this area is changing. But there's no visible vent..."
She seemed puzzled. If Emotion couldn't understand it, Kait certainly couldn't. As they waited for something to happen, the wall in front of them suddenly slid to the right. Another corridor appeared, and beyond it, what looked like a door.
That seemed to be the destination. As they approached, the door opened silently. It was unusual, splitting horizontally from the middle.
"Welcome, brave or perhaps reckless traveler. You are the first Earthling to engage with us proactively."
"Nice to meet you, extraterrestrial being. I'm Kait Crouch from Earth. This is my partner, Emotion."
"Nice to meet you."
Sitting in the center of the room was a bipedal figure. Compared to Earthlings, it had slightly more body hair, but looked far more human than expected.
Its facial features were also nearly identical to a human's. Aside from its pale purple skin, there was nothing particularly different.
When Emotion said, "It's safe to remove your suit in this space," he took off only his helmet for now. Even if cultures differed, it seemed only polite to show his face when the other party had shown theirs.
"Thank you for your polite greeting. May I call you Mr. Kait?"
"Sure, of course. And how should I address you?"
"Forgive me. The closest approximation would be to call me Ritimiele."
"Got it, Ms. Ritimiele."
Only when it came to names did the pronunciation feel odd. Likely due to some kind of translation software.
Slightly hairy Ritimiele made what looked like a smile and gestured for Kait to sit. The chair seemed to grow directly from the floor.
He sat down, finding he wasn't restrained. Emotion moved to his rear diagonal, so he pulled her closer and placed her on his lap.
"We've been observing your kind for quite some time."
"I see. You were here to secure the ship I was on, right?"
"Yes. We too thought this would be our final opportunity."
She said it was the final opportunity. If they'd been observing, they must have known Earth's civilization had collapsed.
From Ritimiele's words, it seemed no one else had made the same choice as Kait.
"So no one else aimed for space aboard another ship?"
"Correct. Of the 186 who had been living on the planet's outskirts, 142 returned to the surface. 25 remained there. 18 took their own lives. Considering the time that has passed, it's unlikely those 25 could have reached these coordinates."
"I see."
He felt no particular emotion.
Those in space were mostly criminals who had been exiled, aside from staff stationed on space stations.
Some may have been exiled like Kait as a way to purge society, but most were heinous criminals. Kait wasn't interested in them, but the fact most returned to Earth might mean the collapse of civilization wasn't as fatal as it seemed.
More than that, what piqued Kait's interest was Ritimiele's words. What did she mean by final opportunity?
"You said it was the final opportunity?"
"Yes. It was the final opportunity to welcome the Earthlings."
"Hmm?"
"We are, let's see... in your terms, a group equivalent to a 'federation'. Myself and the staff of this artificial celestial body had planned to reveal our existence and propose joining the federation once you had reached this distance from your home planet."
"So, even if I had gone in a different direction, I would have still been welcomed by your people?"
"Yes. At this level of distance, we can travel without requiring much time."
"Then, meeting you wasn't a coincidence or luck?"
"That's right. Even if you had been heading the opposite way around the star, I would have been the one conducting the initial meeting like this."
At least in terms of technology, they were clearly more advanced than us. He thought he had understood that, but it seemed he hadn't fully grasped the scale.
Questions kept rising one after another, but it might be rude to keep asking only from his side.
Kait decided to limit himself to three more questions and asked Ritimiele.
"Ritimiele. I feel bad if I keep asking all the questions, so I'll limit it to just three from here on. Is there a reason why you were the one conducting the initial meeting?"
"Yes. Based on our experience, during first encounters like this, understanding and empathy are more easily achieved when the other party appears similar to oneself."
"I see."
"In our federation, there are around 2,600 intelligent species. Species with developed forelimb-end functionality make up more than half, so I don't think Earthlings will feel very alienated."
Species with developed forelimb-end functionality. In other words, hands. Kait instinctively stared at his own hands.
The idea that similar appearances foster empathy made sense. If the first being he met hadn't looked like Ritimiele, but like a tentacled monster from classic sci-fi, could he have stayed this calm?
He was curious about what other kinds of species there were, but decided to prioritize the remaining questions.
"Next question. You mentioned you were observing us. What was the reason for that?"
"There are several reasons, but some of them cannot be disclosed to you at this time, Mr. Kait. Please forgive me."
"I see. As long as you can tell me later, I don't mind."
Ritimiele didn't change expression. If he had pressed for disclosure, she might have shown a troubled face, but Kait didn't want to trouble her.
He moved on to the next question. This would be the last one for now.
"Then, here's the final question I can think of right now. Judging by Earth's current state, doesn't it lack the value you're looking for?"
"No. We are completely free from issues of resources and environment. We do not seek your planet for its resources or environment. However, we have confirmed the severe regression of civilization. If Mr. Kait had not arrived here, we would have ceased observation and returned to the federation."
"So, until we rebuild our civilization to the point where we can launch into space again, we won't be of interest to you—is that a fair understanding?"
"That understanding is both correct and incorrect. Explaining the reason is, again, difficult at this point in time."
"I see."
Kait wasn't representing humanity, so he didn't pursue that point further. He also didn't feel the need to rush for information.
Moreover, Ritimiele had said "at this point in time." She was implying that she would explain if certain conditions were met. It was only Kait's curiosity, after all.
With the questions finished, it was now time to listen to what they had to say.
Perhaps understanding that he was ready to listen, Ritimiele spoke.
"Mr. Kait. Do you wish to obtain citizenship in the federation?"
The question was asked far too casually.